| FA Cup | |
| Year: | 2012–13 |
| Other Title: | The Football Association Challenge Cup |
| Country: | England Wales |
| Dates: | 11 August 2012 – 11 May 2013 |
| Num Teams: | 758 |
| Champions: | Wigan Athletic |
| Count: | 1 |
| Matches: | 156 |
| Attendance: | 2015202 |
| Top Goal Scorer: | Danny Hylton (8 goals) |
| Prevseason: | 2011–12 |
| Nextseason: | 2013–14 |
The 2012–13 FA Cup was the 132nd season of the FA Cup, the main domestic cup competition in English football, and the oldest football knock-out competition in the world. It was sponsored by Budweiser for a second consecutive season,[1] thus the competition name was The FA Cup with Budweiser.
A total of 833 clubs applied to enter,[2] with 758 clubs being accepted into the competition.[3] The preliminary rounds commenced on 11 August 2012, with the first round proper played on 3 November 2012. The final was played on 11 May 2013 at Wembley Stadium in London between Manchester City and Wigan Athletic.[4] [5] In what was described as the biggest upset since Wimbledon's win over Liverpool in the 1988 final,[6] Wigan defeated Manchester City 1–0 to claim the trophy for the first time in their history.
As a result, Wigan Athletic participated in the group stage of the following season's UEFA Europa League. Chelsea were the defending champions, having beaten Liverpool 2–1 in last season's final, but were eliminated in the semi-finals by Manchester City.
Three days after winning the cup, Wigan made history by becoming the first side to win the cup and be relegated in the same season, after they lost 4–1 to Arsenal.
| Round | Clubs remaining | Clubs involved | Winners from previous round | New entries this round | Leagues entering at this round | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 124 | 80 | 32 | 48 | EFL League One EFL League Two | ||
| 84 | 40 | 40 | none | none | ||
| 64 | 64 | 20 | 44 | Premier League EFL Championship | ||
| 32 | 32 | 32 | none | none | ||
| 16 | 16 | 16 | none | none | ||
| 8 | 8 | 8 | none | none | ||
| 4 | 4 | 4 | none | none | ||
| 2 | 2 | 2 | none | none |
The schedule for the 2012–13 FA Cup, as announced by the Football Association, is as follows:[7] [8] [9]
| Round | Main date | Number of fixtures | Clubs | New entries this round | Prize money | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 August 2012 | 200 | 758 → 558 | 400: 359th–758th | £1,000 | ||
| 25 August 2012 | 166 | 558 → 392 | 132: 227th–358th | £1,750 | ||
| 8 September 2012 | 116 | 392 → 276 | 66: 161st–226th | £3,000 | ||
| 22 September 2012 | 80 | 276 → 196 | 44: 117th–160th | £4,500 | ||
| 6 October 2012 | 40 | 196 → 156 | none | £7,500 | ||
| 20 October 2012 | 32 | 156 → 124 | 24: 93rd–116th | £12,500 | ||
| 3 November 2012 | 40 | 124 → 84 | 48: 45th–92nd | £18,000 | ||
| 1 December 2012 | 20 | 84 → 64 | none | £27,000 | ||
| 5 January 2013 | 32 | 64 → 32 | 44: 1st–44th | £67,500 | ||
| 26 January 2013 | 16 | 32 → 16 | none | £90,000 | ||
| 16 February 2013 | 8 | 16 → 8 | none | £180,000 | ||
| 9–10 March 2013 | 4 | 8 → 4 | none | £360,000 | ||
| 13–14 April 2013 | 2 | 4 → 2 | none | £900,000 | ||
| 11 May 2013 | 1 | 2 → 1 | none | Runner-up £900,000 Winner £1,800,000 |
See main article: 2012–13 FA Cup qualifying rounds. All of the teams entering the competition that are not members of either the Premier League or the Football League had to compete in the qualifying rounds to win a place in the competition proper.
Teams from League One and League Two entered at this stage, along with the winners from the fourth round qualifying.
The draw was made on 21 October 2012 with ties to be played on 2–4 November 2012. Yate Town and Slough Town were the lowest-ranked teams left in the competition, both competing in level 8 of the English football league system.
The draw for this round was made on 4 November 2012 with the ties played on the weekend of 1–2 December 2012.
Hastings United, from the seventh tier of English football, were the lowest-ranked team in the second round proper.
Bradford City were disqualified from this season's competition for fielding Curtis Good, who was ineligible to play, in a 1–1 draw against Brentford.[10] As a result, it was presumed that Brentford won by walkover, but Bradford eventually made a successful appeal to the FA against expulsion and were reinstated and fined £1,000 instead allowing a replay to go ahead.[11] Brentford would eventually dump Bradford City out of the cup after winning that replay.
Teams from the Premier League and Football League Championship entered at this stage, along with the winners from the second round.[12]
The draw for the third round was made on 2 December 2012, with the ties played on the weekend of 5–6 January 2013.[13]
Luton Town's Alex Lawless won the player of the round award.[14] The results were as follows:
Hastings United remained the lowest-ranked football team in the third round proper, competing in level 7 of the English football league system.
The draw for the fourth round took place on 6 January 2013, with Macclesfield Town and Luton Town, both from the Conference National (5) remaining as the lowest-placed teams still in the competition.[15]
The draw for the fifth round took place on 27 January 2013, with Luton Town from the Conference National (5) remaining as the lowest-ranked team still in the Cup.[16]
The draw for the quarter-finals took place on 17 February 2013, with Barnsley, Millwall and Blackburn Rovers all from the Championship remaining as the lowest-ranked teams.[17]
The draw for the semi-finals took place on 10 March 2013, with Millwall from the Championship (2) remaining as the lowest-placed team still in the Cup. The draw was carried out by Edgar Davids and Graeme Le Saux at Wembley Stadium in London.[18]
See main article: 2013 FA Cup final. Manchester City had already qualified for the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League based on their league position, therefore Wigan Athletic had already secured a place in the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League, regardless of whether they won or lost.
The domestic broadcasting rights for the competition were held by the free-to-air channel ITV and the subscription channel ESPN.[20] ITV has held the rights since 2008–09,[21] while ESPN gained FA Cup coverage from the 2010–11 season following the collapse of Setanta in the UK.[22] Under the Ofcom code of protected sporting events, the FA Cup Final must be broadcast live on UK terrestrial television.[23]
These matches were broadcast live on UK television:
| Round | ESPN | ITV1 |
|---|---|---|
| First round proper | Cambridge City vs Milton Keynes Dons Dorchester Town vs Plymouth Argyle AFC Wimbledon vs York City (replay) Altrincham vs Burton Albion (replay) | Braintree Town vs Tranmere Rovers (ITV4)2 |
| Second round proper | Alfreton Town vs Leyton Orient Cheltenham Town vs Hereford United Mansfield Town vs Lincoln City (replay) Hastings United vs Harrogate Town (replay) | Milton Keynes Dons vs AFC Wimbledon |
| Third round proper | Swansea City vs Arsenal Mansfield Town vs Liverpool Cheltenham Town vs Everton Arsenal vs Swansea City (replay) | Brighton & Hove Albion vs Newcastle United West Ham United vs Manchester United Manchester United vs West Ham United (replay) |
| Fourth round proper | Manchester United vs Fulham Brentford vs Chelsea Leeds United vs Tottenham Hotspur Leicester City vs Huddersfield Town (replay) | Stoke City vs Manchester City Oldham Athletic vs Liverpool Chelsea vs Brentford (replay) |
| Fifth round proper | Luton Town vs Millwall Manchester City vs Leeds United Manchester United vs Reading | Oldham Athletic vs Everton Huddersfield Town vs Wigan Athletic Everton v Oldham Athletic (replay) |
| Sixth round proper | Manchester City vs Barnsley Millwall vs Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers vs Millwall (replay) | Everton vs Wigan Athletic Manchester United vs Chelsea Chelsea vs Manchester United (replay) |
| Semi-finals | Millwall vs Wigan Athletic | Chelsea vs Manchester City |
| Final | Manchester City vs Wigan Athletic |
